Faced with a deluge of complaints about long delays in getting insurance adjusters to visit flooded homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the National Flood Insurance Program announced Tuesday that it will do away with many of its usual requirements in order to speed the arrival of big checks to many victims of the catastrophic storm.

For owners of federal flood insurance, the announcement could mean the arrival of up to $250,000 in a matter of weeks, as opposed to months.

"Katrina is the largest flood disaster in our nation's history, and it requires us to take a new look at how we process flood insurance claims, '' said R. David Paulison, Acting Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response for the federal Department of Homeland Security. "Our mutual goal is to get families into the recovery process as quickly as possible."

Though flood insurance is backed by the federal government, it is sold by insurance companies, which also are responsible for handling claims. The maximum benefit for dwelling damage is $250,000.

Many insurance companies have been cutting checks for $2,500 to $5,000 to help displaced policyholders with their living expenses, but they have been reluctant to pay larger settlements without first having a property inspected by an adjuster.

That has frustrated many state and local officials, who say it is obvious that whole neighborhoods were wiped out by Katrina, and that the government should fork over the cash as quickly as possible.

"We had 100 percent devastation down here, and I haven't seen an adjuster yet, '' said Joey DiFatta, president of the St. Bernard Parish Council. "We need some relief for these people."

State Rep. Karen Carter, D-New Orleans, said the new policy "will permit people to move forward with their lives. This is what we have been begging for."

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley said Tuesday's announcement "is a big piece of the puzzle.'

Wooley said the announcement means that thousands of homeowners in Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes will find their claims put on a "fast track, '' enabling many of them to collect the full value of their policies without waiting for an adjuster to visit.

To determine which properties qualify for the expedited process, insurers will review aerial photographs, flood data and policyholder information.

"It will be possible to pay the policy limits through dialogue with the insured and without waiting for a site visit to adjust the loss, '' the announcement said. "The process may be used for homes that "have been washed off their foundations, affected for long periods by standing water or when only pilings or a slab remain."

Wooley said the new arrangement should help quicken the pace of recovery in the New Orleans area, but he said it doesn't solve all the problems. He said he is still working on an arrangement that would dramatically reshape the way private insurers are dealing with the crisis with their homeowners' policies.

As it stands, adjusters are spending most of their time on the fringes of the disaster, sometimes working on claims involving minor damage. Wooley said it is important to get those adjusters to areas that sustained the biggest losses as quickly as possible.

He wants to start with St. Bernard Parish, which Wooley visited last week.

"It's the worst situation you can think of, '' Wooley told state lawmakers last week, when describing his visit. "It will make you cry to see it. It's horrible."

To make sure that flooded homes don't become a health hazard, Wooley said insurance adjusters should coordinate their activities, sending in armies of adjusters to the same neighborhood at the same time so that demolition of ruined properties can begin as quickly as possible.

Insurers said they've never had to do business any other way, because gaining access to destroyed property usually isn't a major problem.

"I cannot recall us encountering a similar situation, '' said Mike Trevino, a spokesman for Allstate Insurance Co., the second biggest homeowners insurance company in Louisiana.

Trevino applauded the idea, and said the logistics of coordinating adjuster visits with competing insurance companies isn't a problem. But he said such cooperation poses other obstacles.

"We are not going to reach out to them voluntarily and run the risk that it would be perceived as doing something devious, '' Trevino said. "If the commissioner wants to bring us together, we're happy to do that. In the meantime, we're going to focus on our customers."

Wooley said he is aware of the public-relations aspect of the situation, and he said he wants to address that by giving the coordinating job to a committee made up of citizens, insurance industry representatives and state and federal officials.

He said local officials will also have a key role in notifying residents of what is going on, and arranging for the demolition of properties in such a way that residents can go into the properties and remove any items of sentimental value.

If he can get the process started in St. Bernard, Wooley said it could be rolled out to other parts of the metropolitan area, including Plaquemines Parish and parts of Orleans Parish.

He said the process could help New Orleans avoid becoming a "trailer city, '' in which large numbers of displaced individuals are forced to live together while waiting for the adjusters to finish their work.

This way, he said, residents could move into their neighborhoods as soon as their homes are demolished, living in a trailer in their own backyard while construction of a new home takes place in front of them.